Students on the NFTS Creative Producing for Digital Platforms Diploma, which is delivered in partnership with Sky, are spending four weeks working in the Digital Content Production team at Sky as part of the course. We met with some of the students on placement – Tara Jasminaz and Oredola Agunbiade - and Production Manager, Sky VR, Marc Lamb to find out more:

Marc: “The Sky VR Production team at Sky create complimentary VR experiences based on original Sky programming within entertainment, sport, news, drama and comedy genres. Content ranges from 360 video production to fully interactive and immersive experiences. It’s great to have a fresh perspective from the students who aren’t constrained by any previous knowledge of the technology. It’s also a great experience for them as they get the opportunity to make contacts within the broadcast/VR industry and get involved with the end-to-end production. It’s such a new medium that it’s an exciting thing for students to say that they’ve experienced working on VR projects. The good thing about the NFTS placement is that each student comes wide a wide range of backgrounds so they tend to have a broad set of skills and experience which they get to utilise across the placement. We have a very high rate of employment with NFTS graduates from this course as well with William Samaha working in our team and Pav Janda working for Sky Sports.”

Oredola: “So far my work placement at Sky has been great, I have been given a good amount of work that’s helped to develop my thought process when it comes to creative thinking. Working at Sky is an amazing opportunity; since I’ve joined I’ve gained a lot of insight about the industry I’m going to work in when I graduate. I work in Sky Drama at the moment and it’s a really energetic and positive space to be in. The placement has influenced the kind of work I’d be interested in doing after graduating, which is creating immersive storytelling and digital interactivity in physical spaces”.

Tara: “Since starting my placement with the Sky VR team, I have already spent time shadowing both a 360 Creative and Technical Director, had a stitching session with the 360 Editor and talked through a current project with the Producer, Interactive Designer and the 3D Animator. This experience is hugely valuable as I prepare to enter the industry; I have built a good idea of the kinds of job roles involved and best practise work flows. On top of that, I have also been set a creative virtual reality brief, which I am having a lot of fun with while having access to any support I need. The working environment at Sky is really diverse and positive; I know I would like to work in a company like this with the right infrastructure to nourish young talent who work alongside experienced professionals.”

Applications are open for the Creative Producing for Digital Platforms Diploma, which is delivered in partnership with Sky, until the 23rd November and the course starts in January 2018 – more information on how to apply at www.nfts.co.uk/creativeproducing